Masson Qualifies for State; Aztecs Rebound

Masson Blow Qualifies for State Meet

MASSON BLOW qualified for the state wrestling meet Saturday. He is pictured above in action in a photo by Armando Robles.

At the CIF-Southern Section Masters Tournament in Rialto the Lompoc High star finished fourth among 30 wrestlers wrestling at 152 pounds.

Seeded #2 Blow drew a first round bye, then pinned Timmy Garnica of North Torrance at 2:31. In the quarterfinal round he won 5-0 over Stephen Mills of Laguna Hills, but in the semifinal he was pinned by eventual winner Jacob Rodriguez of Canyon Springs at 4:47.

Relegated to the third-place bracket he stopped Trevor Gray of San Clemente 10-4, but then lost to Mills by a 7-4 score and had to settle for fourth. Mills had a big advantage in the fatigue category. He had been able to rest instead of wrestle when his qualifying match was won by injury default.

Though Blow had been seeded second by CIF, Rodriguez was no surprise. California Wrestler ranked him #2 and Blow #3. Vinny Maraj of Yucca Valley had been seeded and ranked #1 but he fell to sixth due to injury.

The state meet will take place in Bakersfield next weekend.

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College Women's Water Polo

The San Diego State unbeaten streak was snapped Saturday but the Aztecs battled back for three straight victories to give themselves a 13-1 record by nightfall Sunday.

Upstart UC Davis nipped #6-ranked SDSU on Saturday 8-7 but the team weathered a final flurry to down Michigan 11-9, edged UC Irvine 9-8, and then came from behind with four unanswered goals to top Arizona State 7-5 all at the UC-Irvine Tournament.

Goalie HEATHER FENSKE posted save totals of 8, 12, 5, and 9 with three of her 12 against Michigan coming in the final four minutes. Captain BECCA UR scored against Davis and netted another against Michigan to give the Aztecs their 11-8 advantage to provide a cushion before the Wolverines’ final push.

Becca now has 12 goals for the season, while Heather has 114 blocks.

The #6-ranked Aztecs open conference play at Stanford on Saturday and at San Jose State on Sunday.

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College hoops

SEATTLE— A ragged University of Washington team fell 77-63 to Arizona State Saturday night. The Sun Devils lifted themselves to 7-7 in the Pac-10 while UW fell to 6-9.

JOEL SMITH went 0-for-4 from the field in 15 minutes of play. He snagged three rebounds, dished an assist and blocked a shot. The Huskies visit Palo Alto to play Stanford on Thursday, and Berkeley to face Cal on Saturday.

Bismarck, ND – Fourth-ranked Northern State blacked out the University of Mary Marauders on the boards Saturday and took home a 72-50 victory. The Wolves outrebounded U-M 58-20.

GEOFF WEST led the Marauders with 14 points. He also had two assists and two steals.
The Marauders conclude the regular season at 8-19 and finish eighth in the NSIC at 5-13. The Marauders open the NSIC men’s basketball tournament at regular-season champ Winona State on Saturday,

Heartbreak on the Hill, No Joy in the Valley [Water Polo Update]

Cabrillo's boys soccer team controlled the second half, they just couldn't score enough, planting the seeds of a 3-2 loss in sudden death overtime of their CIF Wild Card match Wednesday. Brighton Galvan scored both goals for the Conquistadors - one early in the first half, the other midway through the second. The Anaheim Colonists controlled the majority of the first period, answering Galvan's opener with two of their own.



In the second, the Conquistadores just missed goals on several occasions.
Just wide late in the 2nd half

Start of Overtime

In the overtime sessions Cabrillo continued to control the game, but as both teams were tiring, there were several defensive lapses by each side which could have lead to points.

Over the crossbar in overtime





After the game, first year coach Armando Torres told the team and supporters : "From now on, Cabrillo will be a team to reckon with".


End of the Season











Lompoc Girls Soccer

The Lompoc girls, meanwhile, were on the road against La Salle but with identical results - a 3-2 loss in overtime. Veronica Villareal scored in the first period, and Lupe Estrada in the first overtime session, but both goals were answered. This resulted in a shootout which Lompoc lost 4-3. Villareal, Estrada, and Lindsey Eckersley scored in the shootout. Brandy Machado, who played the entire game in goal, had 10 saves and stopped two penalty kicks.

UPDATE: Cabrillo Water Polo

The Cabrillo girls faced off at the COLAC against the squad from Louisville HS (Woodland Hills) in the second round of the CIF playoffs. Louisville, a private Catholic girls school, advanced to the game by beating Nipomo 11-3 in first round action on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the Conquistadores, the Royals improved to 19-11 with a 9-8 victory. It was a close affair throughout and either team could have won it (see games above). Reported [unconfirmed] scorers for Cabrillo were Rachel Nelson (5), Ashlea Coski (2), and Phoebe Huggins.


Cabrillo Head Coach Corey McIntyre talks with a player after the match.






Golf Gals




Julia Heath and friends went clubbing, but they didn't swing that much.
The Cal-Poly (SLO) womans golf team stormed through the Lady Braveheart Challenge at Oak Valley Golf Course in Beaumont (CA), drubbing runner-up San Diego St. and the rest of the 16 team field by 16 strokes. They followed up Monday's 313 (total scoring strokes, 4 players) with a 316 on Tuesday for an excellent 629 aggregate score on the 6,089 yard, 72 par course.

The ladies were led a career best tying effort by Stephanie Yocum (pictured), a sophomore from Pacific Palisades, who shot a (75/76) 151 to win individual honors by a stroke over two other players. Her 76 on Tuesday was the low score of the day.

Julia Heath, from Lompoc, was her usual consistent self with consecutive rounds of 78, posting a 156 score that was good enough for 5th place. Junior Hannah Brabb was 13th (76/85-161), while sophomore Maddy Fletcher shot (88/77) 165. Her 11 stroke improvement moved her from 71st place into a tie for 28th. Junior Elsie Walker carded a (84/89) 173 for 55th place as the fifth member of the squad.

The win was the Mustangs first tournament win of the season and the ninth since the program's establishment in 2000.

Coach Scott Cartwright's charges return to action on March 9th in a dual match versus CS Bakersfield at Hunter Ranch Golf Course in Paso Robles.

The Women are Back on Course

Are Kellie George (top) and Sarah Jones going to the[Bull]dogs ?


Allan Hancock College - which did not field a womans golf team last year due to lack of participation, may be about to recieve a big boost from the Lompoc Valley. Sources report that dual dynamos Kellie George (Cabrillo) and Sarah Jones (Lompoc) plan to attend and play golf at the shool this fall. Both ladies earned first team All Los Padres Athletic League honors while competing for their respective schools last year.


Kellie G in action












Heath Update


Julia Heath (left), and Heather Brabb (below), mainstays of the Mustangs womens golf program lead the Cal-Poly womens golf team's return to action after a long lay - off. Heath, a sophomore from Lompoc, and Brabb, a junior from Maitland Florida, have already helped the Mustangs assault the Cal-Poly record book. Records are kept for single rounds (18 holes), and 36-hole and 54-hole tournaments. Since the two became teamates in the fall of 2006, the squad has set 14 of the schools all-time top 18 scores, including records in all three catagories this season. Shattered might be a better description. For example, in the 54-hole class the old record of 945 was surplanted by a 917 in the fall of '06, and has since been beaten twice. Individually, Brabb has 7 and Heath has 6 of the top 25 all-time scores. In scoring average, Brabb has the 2nd & 8th and Heath the 4th best all-time single seasons, while Heath has pushed past Brabb to occupy the top position as the all-time career leader. Both were named to the All-Big West Conference 2nd team last year.

At the collegiate level the golf season is essentially divided into two parts- a fall schedule and a spring schedule with the winter off. The Mustangs traditionally participate in four tournaments from September to November, and five more from February to April. At the fall schedules final event in early November, the Mustangs own tournament at Cypress Ridge in Arroyo Grande, Heath finished tied for 5th and Brabb 9th, leading the team to a tie for second place in a 36-hole, four scorer, school record 604. It was the squad's third top 5 tournament finish of the season. The Cal-Poly spring schedule starts with a Feb 11-12 visit to the UC Riverside Lady Braveheart Classic. Other tournaments are a dual meet with Cal State Bakersfield (9 March), the Western Regional prelim (at Sacramento 31 March/1 April), the Wolfpack Invitational (Unv. Nevada 14-15 Apl), and the Big West Championships (Mission Viejo, April 21-22). And this year they might just add a sixth- a visit to the NCAA Western Regionals in Sacramento.
Monday Soccer at LHS

Elicity Fabing got one & so did Roseangela Perez. Goals , that is, as the Braves defeated Mission Prep 2-0 in girls soccer. The JV won 5-0. Late & unconfirmed reports from SLO have the boys varsity losing 3-1 and the JV on top 4-0.--el stato